Clott v. Greyhound Lines, Inc., 7010DC495

• Decision Date: 18 November 1970
• Docket Number: No. 7010DC495,7010DC495
• Citation: 177 S.E.2d 438,9 N.C.App. 604
• Parties: Raymond CLOTT v. GREYHOUND LINES, INC.
• Court: North Carolina Court of Appeals

Page 438

177 S.E.2d 438

9 N.C.App. 604

Raymond CLOTT v. GREYHOUND LINES, INC.

No. 7010DC495.

Court of Appeals of North Carolina.

Nov. 18, 1970 Certiorari Allowed by Supreme Court Jan. 5, 1971.

Boyce, Mitchell, Burns & Smith, by Robert E. Smith, Raleigh, for plaintiff-appellant.

Teague, Johnson, Patterson, Dilthey & Clay, by I. Edward Johnson, Raleigh, for defendant-appellee.

MORRIS, Judge.

Plaintiff's evidence, in addition to his own testimony, consisted of the adverse examinations of three employees of defendant: A. H. Howell, driver of the bus; Roy Wells, Superintendent of the Raleigh Division of Greyhound; and Walter J. Rackley, a part-time dispatcher relief for Greyhound who was on duty on the date in question. Plaintiff testified that he bought a ticket in Bushnell, Florida, with the final destination to be New York, New York, via Greyhound bus. He changed busses in Jacksonville, Florida, and carried the grip with him on the bus when he boarded in Jacksonville. He testified that he was not allowed to check the bag at that time because his bus was scheduled to depart in five minutes, and all baggage had to be checked at least 20 minutes before the schedules departure time.

The bag had in it an envelope containing $2,209 in cash; a Leica camera; Rolex watch; Hamilton watch; three bottles of perfume--Arpege, Alma and Joy; two electric razors; and his seaman's papers. Plaintiff testified that he got on the last seat 'on top in the scenic cruiser, and it had a receding wall about this wide here between the seat and the motor wall, and I got on my knees and dropped the bag behind there; all the way.' When the bus arrived in Columbia, South Carolina, an announcement of a stopover was made, but plaintiff paid no attention because he was 'half asleep.' The other passengers got off for breakfast. Plaintiff testified that later another announcement was made that the bus would be delayed for about 20 minutes and if anyone wanted coffee to go get it. Plaintiff got off the bus and went in to get coffee and doughnuts, and while he was walking out with the doughnuts, he saw the bus pulling out. He was the only passenger who had left the bus at the second announcement. Plaintiff then went to the dispatcher and 'I told him that the bag was there and my hat and I had my personal things in that, and some cash in the bag also. I described the bag to him. * * * I told him where the bag was located on the bus.' Plaintiff further testified that when he arrived in Raleigh later the same day, he went to the dispatcher, whose name he thought was Rackley, and asked for his bag. The dispatcher gave him his hat but said, as to the bag, 'My God, I gave it away. He said, I must have made a mistake.' Plaintiff continued his trip to New York and in May 1967 received a letter from Greyhound advising that they had located the bag in Chamblee, Georgia. When the bag was returned to plaintiff, 'the lock was gone off and the small lock there was jimmied, which it still is, and the entire lining was torn out of the bag, which is still there. I cemented it back, but it was all torn out. It had been ransacked.'

Mr. Howell, the driver, testified that when he arrived in Raleigh he was notified that a passenger had been left in Columbia and was asked to get his baggage and bring it to the dispatcher's office. 'Close as I can recall on that, it was a small--well, one of these small bags and he told me it was at the back of the bus on the rack. I went out there while they were servicing the bus and got it off and brought it to him. I gave the bag directly to mr. Rackley. I did not notice anything unusual about the bag when I took it off of the bus. He told me that it was on the rack. Now he didn't say right rear. He said in the back. Now if I remember correctly it was on the right rear. Mr. Rackley did not tell me anything about the contents of the bag. I did not examine the bag or open it to see if it was the bag in question; that's not my job. I did not notice whether or not the bag was locked. I don't recall whether the bag had a leather grip on it, or double leather grips.'

Mr. Wells, the Superintendent, testified that he was not in Raleigh that day but recalled that Mr. Rackley later told him he had received a message from Columbia concerning lost baggage containing valuables; that he contacted the driver immediately upon the arrival of the bus in Raleigh and asked him to remove the bag from the bus and that the driver did deliver the bag to Mr. Rackley, and it was placed in the dispatcher's office. Mr. Rackley had also told this witness that he was unable to locate the bag when plaintiff arrived. The dispatcher's office is small with one exit door opening to the outside of the terminal onto the loading platform.

Mr. Rackley testified that he remembered receiving a message from Columbia. 'To the best of my knowledge, the message said that there was a bag and a hat behind the rear seat of a scenic cruiser type bus which is the very rear seat on the bus. As to whether or not the message stated that there were any valuables in the bag, I don't recollect it making any statement as to any contents of the bag. It was just a bag and a hat.' Mr. Rackley further testified as follows:

'If I remember correctly, I went to the bus with the driver, but there was a lot of these cases that comes up and if I remember on this particular case I did. I went to the back of the bus with the driver. At the time I got to the back of the bus I did not find the bag behind the seat. We found a hat and no bag, there was a bag that was not behind it but there was a bag in the back of the bus and there was a passenger back there and we asked him about this bag and he said it was his bag, so then we took the hat and took it back into the dispatcher's office. As to whether neither I nor the driver took a bag off the bus, to the best of my knowledge I don't remember taking a bag because this passenger that was on the bus claimed that the only bag there was his. As to whether I examined the bag that this particular passenger had or remember looking at it, it was just a bag but we didn't examine it when the passenger said it was his we didn't do anything with it. If I remember correctly the bag that I refer to was in the back of the bus on the seat. I am not sure that is the correct place it was at...